Queen Izumi
by dcedie
Summary: As a queen, Izumi needed a king. So what would Mitzuki possibly suggest as a solution? That's right, a contest. This is the story of the fight for true love between Yoshitaka, Anna, and many, many OCs. What will happen in this crazy medieval world?
1. Showdown on Mainstreet

**Disclaimer: I don't own He is my Master or any of the characters.**

Summary

As a queen, Izumi needed a king. So what would Mitzuki possibly suggest as a solution? That's right, a contest. This is the story of the fight for true love between Yoshitaka, Anna, and many, many OCs. Set in medieval times.

**I'm quite happy with this, and yes, this is the contest between Yoshitaka and Anna I promised in Ask the Gang. Psh, I bet you all expected a simple contest, but I'm going to go much farther than just that! I'm still lacking some ideas for the many stages of the tournament, so any requests or suggestions are welcome! Oh yeah, enjoy!**

* * *

"Wake up nee-chan."

"WAKE UP!!"

Izumi had woken up very unruly. The 'beautiful' queen was certainly NOT a sight for sore eyes in the morning. Her long hair was sticking out on one side and completely flat on the other. And her pajamas were so crumpled up no one would have noticed the large cleavage underneath.

Desperate for some more sleeping minutes, (or HOURS), she started lazily poking her overly energetic sister.

"Nee-chan? What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for the snooze button!"

"Haha, very funny. C'mon, the tourney is starting in an hour!"

Izumi tried to open her still very sleepy eyes to look at her blonde friend. She was already completely dressed up. She had her curly hair flowing all the way down her back. Her skin was covered in a pink, lightly ruffled dress. And it was all topped off with a golden, wavy, royal crown.

"Why can't I just wait another half hour and then get ready?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How do you plan on governing an entire country with that slacky attitude?"

"I'm not going to be slacky when ruling, just every morning."

"Ok, be that way. Come late and disappoint every single man in the entire kingdom for all I care!"

"Oh fine, I'll get ready."

Mitzuki just smirked victoriously and left the room, leaving the sluggish maiden to dress.

* * *

The kingdom capitol was an overflowing, mediocre town. It was stocked with middle-class houses, except for the palace in the center. Which was half an acre in size and three floors high, made of aging, gray bricks. In the heart of the castle was a tall tower, where the royalty slept. The town was filled with a massive, loud crowd waiting in front of the palace.

Amongst this crowd was a successful rougue, who goes by the name of Nakabayashi Yoshitaka. He wore a simple brown hooded jacket with matching loose pants. Like those of a merchant or a monk. And on his head he sported a detective's cap, just for his own personal style. He had entered the tournament, but partly to pick pocket all the people not paying attention to those they bump into.

_HAHA! These _suckers_, don't they know that a busy crowd is a theif's paradise? So far I've already gotten 15 wallets, and I've only been here for about 5 minutes! HAHA! This is great._

Little did he know that he was about to meet up with another legendary figure, Kurauchi Anna. She was the first woman to become a knight, and a pretty damn good one too! Rather than wear heavy plates, she wore light chainmail on her torso and legs with army green clothing underneath. When Yoshi had quickly digged his hand in her pocket in order to steal -SHING- she had pulled out her rapier and held it to his throat just as fast.

"Did you just try to pick pocket me?"

"Impressive swordsmanship, but-" Yoshitaka brought out two slender daggers with lightning speed and locked blades with her, "-mine's better!"

Anna pushed her saber down and out of the lock, then thrust it up again, only for it to be forced back down again by Yoshi's right. Yoshitaka grinned.

"I have you now!" And he sent a barrage of jabs to her head with his left. Skillfully, Anna manuevered her way around every stab, then twisted her weapon away from his and attempted to chop his legs. He jumped over it in the nik of time, but she brought it up, then axed it back down. Yoshitaka was reduced to a defensive and could only dodge and block her slow, yet organized slashes.

"You're all talk, no skill!" Anna continued her attempts at hacking in every direction at him, but was just being blocked every time. She stopped her slices and mustered her power into one last lunge.

Yoshitaka noticed immediately and crossed his daggers to defend and they were pushed out of his hands and landed on the ground, leaving him defenseless. He shut his eyes waiting for the inevitable.

...

He opened them again and saw that her rapier was at his throat again, but didn't continue.

"I just spared your life ronin." Anna was victorious, and turned away to continue waiting for the queen. Then she felt cold metal on her neck. "You were hiding another dagger? You evil little-!"

"Hey, I aint a criminal for nothing." Yoshi removed his knife and went to pick up his other two daggers. "I haven't had such a good fight in a long time, what's your name soldier?"

"Anna, Kurauchi Anna."

"Hm, that's a pretty name. You're a good swordsman, want to work for me?"

"NEVER! My loyalty is to the queen and to the queen alone!"

"Understandable, speaking of which," He pointed past her, "there she is now!"

Just as he said, Izumi was being carried on a throne into the plazza by four men, being led by Mitzuki. Her throne was made of solid gold with simple yet elegant design, and was surrounded by barely see-through red drapes. The majesty herself had her hair lightly curled and on top of it was her royal crown. Made of strong gold with a shining ruby on the front. Her outfit was also vey expensive. It was a long blue dress with lines of gold on the shoulders, fore arms, waist, and tips. Though not much of this could be seen because of the red curtain.

Izumi was actually kind of stressed, for she didn't think there would be so many men (and Anna) in the competition. But thankfully the drapes covered that up too.

Once everyone saw the royalty the crowd roared with applause. The princess and the queen enjoyed every moment of it. Then the younger one raised her hand to mute the large mass and spoke loudly.

"People of Willoweer! I'm sure you all know of the reason that you here! To take part in the tournament, and WIN THE HEART OF YOUR MAJESTY!" The populous roared and clapped again at this, then was silenced again.

"The tournament will consist of seven challenges! And our first one is going to be simple, SHARPSHOOTING!

* * *

**Like it so far? Again, I could also use some ideas for the tourney so if you have a good idea tell me!**


	2. You are my enemy!

**I wanted to replace the word rocket with something so badly, but there are no freaking synonyms for rocket!**

* * *

"And the first match is, SHARPSHOOTING!"

"IZUMI-CHAN!!" GLOMP!! Take one guess as to who that was. Anna, of course, she was rubbing herself against the queen's huge chest. Every guy in the crowd had a nose bleed.

A man from the audience spoke up, "Don't you plan on doing something, Mitzuki-sama?"

"Like that could happen. Once she's on she ain't getting off! I might as well ask the earth to stop spinning and the rain to stop falling! Anyway, let's just continue, again, the first match is, SHARPSHOOTING!!"

You could see all the robin hood copies leap in joy with woops and applause. You could also see all the buff macho guys go like "AH SHIT!" Mitzuki reacted to it simply.

"Now, the match is set up in the grassland, follow."

* * *

Everyone believed that the princess had something up her sleeve, but that became less and less believable as all she gave them was their bow and arrows, then they saw it. A giant case, covered in a huge yellow cover. Only Mitzuki and God knew what it was.

"Everybody, spread out and prepares yourselves! This is not going to be any normal shooting range, because the targets aren't going to be still. They're going to be FLYING!! Remove the blanket boys!" The two men summoned tugged on the gigantic sheet and revealed an even more colossal box of set rockets and explosives.

Mitzuki continued, "You see, the Chinese have invented this new thing called gunpowder, which creates small controlled explosions. They figured out a way to put this 'gunpowder' into tubes in order to create a whole new invention called a rocket, or something like that. I bet, if they put these things into production on a much bigger scale, they can get a man on the moon!"

Murmurs raced through the crowd like, "Oh yeah right!", "I don't believe you!", and "That could NEVER happen!"

"Don't believe me? Jack, light one of the rockets!" One person did what was ordered and sure enough, a little red tube shot through the sky, leaving a trail of smoke and going so far no one could find it.

The populous was astounded. Even Izumi, whom Anna eventually let go of and went back on her throne, was amazed too.

"These are the things you will be shooting in this challenge!! If you have no confidence in your abilities, then give back your weapons and leave now!" Many discouraged men left the crowd, their hopes crushed, halving the crowd. But those who did stay were praying, except for Yoshitaka, as a bandit he didn't rely on god.

"Your arrows are engraved with your name. When a rocket is shot down it will immediately fall. My faculty will find the rockets, if you've shot down just one and the arrow in the rocket has your name on it, you are in the next round!"

"READY!!" Everyone took a quiver and saw there name engraving.

"SET!!" Everyone placed the arrow in their bow and aimed.

"GO!!" The two workers started lighting every last rocket. The sky was filled with red, brown, and silver, barely any blue to be seen. Then the sky came back, only to be dashed with tons of spread out arrows rapidly.

The archers took time to reload, aim, fire, and repeat. Although some warriors broke this pattern, including Yoshitaka and Anna. They shot and reloaded with the same speed as their targets, finally hitting one eventually.

But one person did even better than all of them, his name was Ryan Anarame. He was a legendary hunter. Ryan had been shooting and hounding since he was nine. The man's brown hair was shaved at the very top and faced forward. He had big green eyes and wore a plain white shirt and navy blue sweatpants. The marksman would look like a young man in his late teens, were it not for the battle scar on his cheek. With one easy, careful fling he had hit a rocket.

The endless barrage only continued until every rocket was fired. The land in front of them was covered with brown darts and red tubes that felt a quick end. Mitzuki's large crew quickly ran to the scene to collect the arrows stuck in rockets. They hurried to pile them at princess' side. The stack still accumulated as she spoke again.

"Well folks, let's start going through the names, Ryan Anarame! Yoshitaka Nakabayashi!..."

The first just smirked and left, satisfied. Although Anna felt something suspicious about Yoshitaka, because he was the kind of guy to go around mocking everybody, not just leave. Something was up, and she was determined to find out! So when her name was called she followed the ronin. First he just stopped at a bar.

_There must be more than that, he is probably just there to lose anyone who might be following him! But no, it's not going to work on the great Kurauchi Anna!_

She had a bad feeling about this Yoshitaka Nakabayashi, and she must find out. So she waited, and waited... and waited.

...one hour later...

The thief left the bar completely sober and found Anna lying on the ground fast asleep. He thought he was successful and started going after his true goal, the palace. Once he was out of sight, Anna's eyes opened and she starting trailing him again.

_Sucker! Thought you could trick me, but I tricked you!_ The knight stalked the ronin, turned a couple of corners, then followed him to the castle.

He just stood there, staring at the tower.

"What are you doing here rogue?!" Anna angrily put her sword to his throat.

"Hey! Watch where you put that thing Anna-chan!"

"Don't you use chan with me you filthy little scavenger! I'll-"

"You'll what? Throw me in jail? I know the law and I know you can't do that without proof! Only the royalty has that power! Besides, all I'm doing is sight seeing."

"I may not be able to get you now, but I know you're up to something!"

"So what? You still got nothing on me! Both of us know that!"

Sadly, he was right. Anna couldn't do anything. And Yoshi saw the defeat in her eyes. Her rage rose again.

"From this moment on Yoshitaka, you are my enemy! And I will do whatever I can to bring you down!" She seethed her rapier. "I'm going to sleep"

Then she disappeared into her sleeping quarters in the castle. She had lost.


	3. Yoshitaka's Grand Theft

**To answer some questions before they happen, yes he is talking to himself.**

* * *

It was the midst of night. Yoshitaka was shielded in a cloak of darkness but had just the right amount of light to monitor the guards.

_Well, this is going nowhere fast. FALL ASLEEP YOU STUPID GUARDS!_

_Oh screw it! Just walk up and knock them out!_

_Yeah, but that would raise suspicions! And who would they interrogate first, the random man in the crowd, or the infamous criminal on the most wanted list?!_

_Then why not just climb up the walls?_

_With what? A plunger?!_

_Why not distract them, throw a rock or something!_

_That would still raise suspicions!!_

_So we're stuck with waiting for them to fall asleep?_

_Hey look! They fell asleep!_

Sure enough, the armored men were dozing off in the middle of their duty. (A/N: (snicker) The word duty is still funny to me, I'm so immature!)Yoshi took this opportunity and rushed in the entrance with the speed and silence a master thief should have.

He was in. The walls were covered in old fashioned portraits of past rulers including one of Izumi and Mitzuki. He continued stalking the halls, looking in every direction, hoping for no security. He found dead end after dead end. He had been looking everywhere for about 7 minutes.

_C'mon! Where is the tower entrance?!_

He turned around one last corner and found a line of stairs going around a cylindrical structure, the tower. Yoshitaka tested the first few stairs for anything dangerous, then continued on. Because usually stair traps are set up on the very bottom.

When at the top there was a line of doors on each side of the long corridor and one at the end, he started going for the one at the end. It's common rogue knowledge that in such a royal place that the must important room is at the end. He was half way there until...

_Wow, this is way too easy... Uh oh. _The 'tricky' bandit looked down to find that his foot was on top of a thin trap cord. Immediately, holes in the wall opened to show a huge mass of arrows, ready to fire. Only one phrase kept racing in the ronin's mind.

_OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!!_

The pang of the steel raced through the air, along with Yoshitaka. He ran like his life depended on it, because it did. A dash, a jump, a roll, a spin, and then another roll. He barely dodged all the arrows.

The felon hid on the stairway, adrenaline still in his veins. His eyes were still wide, and his chest was still rising even after he knew it was over.

_Okay, now I should REALLY try something different. _Yoshi took out three daggers and tossed them through the hall. One cut a string and the floor under collapsed showing lethal spikes. Another cut a string and a column of fire arose. The third one hit a string and the entire roof depressed briefly, with crushing force. Yoshitaka's eyes were as big as coconuts and his mouth was all the way down to the floor, literally. He was thinking of what would happen if he had pulled those.

_There has to be something here to deactivate those traps! They wouldn't let the queen go through this hall with all those dangers!_

In the corner of his eye he saw it, an extremely minute red button at the very end of the hall.

_OH YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Oh, I know!  
_

He produced a white feather from his sleeve and began to blow on it, directing it to the dot. If it lowered he blew harder, if it hit the wall he stopped, continuing the pattern until it finally to the destination and one last blow pushed the button. Then the cords in the room broke in two, and the passageway was safe.

_Bingo!_ He ran to the entrance and opened it. There she was, the royal majesty, out cold on the her bed. The room was entirely purple. Other than the color and the intricate bed, the room was pretty simple. A drawer, a window, a closet, average stuff.

He treaded to the beautiful queen's side. First he just looked at her peaceful sleeping figure. Then he slowly lowered his face closer to her, and closer, and then, closed the gap between their lips.

Izumi woke instantly, pushed him off and was about to scream. The bandit pushed his hand against her mouth, shutting her up. His voice was relaxed and sarcastic.

"Don't do that. We don't want the guards coming in now do we?" He released his hand.

Her face was a mixture of shock and fury, mostly fury. "What are you doing here rogue? If it's money you want I'll never let you have it!"

"Well someone's quick to jump to conclusions isn't she? Look, the only reason I came here was to meet the amazing majesty that everyone's busting their tail for!"

Izumi calmed down. "You got past the guards, found your way around the castle, and overcame all the traps just for that?"

"Exactly."

"You're an idiot."

"I would prefer the term brave."

She got angry again and pointed to the window. "And I would prefer you get out!"

The ronin raised his hands defense. "Okay miss cranky-pants I'll leave!" he smirked, "Besides, I already got what I came here for." And with that Yoshitaka left through the window, leaving a confused Izumi alone. For some reason, she felt lonely. Then she touched the point on her face where their kiss had happened.

The door slammed open, showing a sleepy yet on guard Anna.

"Your majesty! I heard some commotion and I came to check."

"It's nothing, bad dream is all." she lied.

"Well get some sleep sire, there's another tournament match coming."

"Ok Anna-chan, dismissed."

* * *

**I really liked this chapter! And just because this chapter is YoshixIzumi, doesn't mean the whole story is that couple! Nor does it mean he'll win the tournament.  
**


	4. Jungle of Hell I

**Anna will have her time (wink), eventually. Also, I refuse to say which couple I support, that would give a lot away don'tcha think?**

**Since everyone seems to like violence, I figured this chapter would be a treat!**

* * *

The crowd had gathered in the woods again, but there was no fancy gadgets to be seen anywhere, just a huge thicket. And the assemblage was different too. The last challenge eliminated so many contestants that they were only down to about 30 people. Not only was there much less multitude, the queen wasn't there either, just the princess in her favorite pink outfit. Mitzuki spoke with a smile.

"My nee-chan is out to do some business, so let's just continue to our next match, HUNTING! This portion of the wilderness is thirty fenced acres of dense, thick, forest. We have filled this land with about twenty vicious and powerful creatures. Such as battle ready wolves, stealthy lions, ferocious bears, and giant pythons! Each of these monsters has a red tag on them, those are your ticket to the next match! You have all day to get one of these things, if you're not back by then you'll be classified as dead. But _hopefully_ that won't happen!"

The blond said all this with such a 'I don't think you will die attitude', but of course, everyone was SCARED OUT OF THEIR MINDS!

_Sounds like it's going to be hard, so let's get started, I don't want to spend all day in that monster trap! _Anna thought simply as she jumped into the jungle of hell.

It had been about three minutes and she continued to run. The knight tried to muster up her bravery and refuse the idea of her being frightened, but in reality, she was as terrified as anybody.

_I can take a wolf, I can take a bear or a lion! I just don't want to face one of those! That's my worst fear! Anything but a-_

The paladin bumped into something dry and _-scaly-_. She looked up to see a wall of light brown with darker brown diagonal stripes with lines of separation. She looked farther and saw a hive-like thing, being shaken like a _-rattle_-. She turned her head one last time and saw the giant head of a...

"-SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!"

"SSSSSAAAAAAAA!" The huge cobra's hiss sounded more like a cruel shriek.

* * *

A certain felon heard yells from a distance as he was running forward. Yoshitaka ran past the forest part of the woods and reached a more swamp like area. He chuckled.

"Sucker, I wonder what he's facing... Man, I can't find a freaking ferocious animal!" Yoshi grew tired and sat down on a big green rock.

"I'll just sit for a while and let trouble find me instead, it always does!" Just as he said that, the 'rock' under him started to vibrate and rise. It slowly pulled out of the water, showing big, angry eyes then it revealed sharp teeth. It rose more and showed a line of spikes on it's back, then more and it showed a thick, strong tail. It was an alligator.

"RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!"

Yoshitaka sighed. "Aw man, now someone else is having fun too! Wait a minute, that sound was from..." He looked down "...Under me..."

"YES!!" He pulled out a dagger, spun it around and thrust it into the monster's head expecting to kill it instantly. But instead the knife broke in two because of it's strong scales. "NO!!"

The smash just annoyed the beast. It roared furiously and shook itself around, trying to get the thief off. Yoshitaka held on for his life, and when he almost slipped he noticed a piece of red paper tied tight to one of his teeth. The dinosaur swung itself again and got Yoshi back on his head before he could get to the tag. Then it resulted to running towards a tree in an attempt at a head butt.

Yoshitaka noticed too late and was crushed, horrible pain was through his body. He fell to the muddy ground and was out for the count.

"RRRROOOAAAARRRR!!" Apparently the alligator was noble enough to not want to attack a man while he's down. The ronin was awake again only to see the monster had it's jaws open and was preparing to eat him.

He tried to take it as an opening and threw a dagger into it's mouth. But it rapidly shut it's mouth, chomping the dagger into pieces. Then he tried making a run for it, but his chest screamed in agonizing pain. He had some ribs broken.

"Well... this was pretty fun..." He spoke weakling, grinning at the end. The monster opened his mouth up once more.

* * *

The giant snake shot it's head at Anna, but she jumped greatly over it. She had to look under her to pay attention to the python and when she did she noticed a red tag on it's back.

_Yes! If I can just get that tag! _As she fell she started reaching for the paper. _A little more!_

"SSAAAA!!" The cobra slugged his head at her again, but the knight blocked her fangs with her own blade. The large head of the beast slowed to a halt. Anna watched as a huge drop of venom spilled from it's teeth and onto the ground. The acid instantly disintegrated a portion of the floor. She stared in horror.

"I'm going to need so much therapy after this!"

The snake pulled back and it became a blade duel between it's fangs and her rapier. It kept trying to get a bite on her but she kept slashing her teeth. But she was losing. Not only was the cobra's teeth just as strong as the paladin's metal, but it had been getting bits of poison on her sword, and it was dulling.

Anna was still fighting evenly, but knew that she had to do something. But the snake's fangs kept her too busy to think.

"If I keep going on like this, than my rapier will-" The python changed it's battle sequence and whipped around his tail and hit point blank, throwing her into a tree, almost breaking it.

Anna was tired and in miserable pain.

"I can't... die... like this...!" The giant reared it's head back for the final blow and bulleted forward.

* * *

**Is Anna going to die? Is Yoshitaka screwed? Is there no hope? And why the hell am I asking you these questions?! R&R!! **

* * *


	5. Jungle of Hell II

**Psh, OF COURSE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO DIE!! Killing off the main characters this early would be the dumbest thing I've ever done!**

* * *

The giant python reared it's head back for the final blow and bulleted forward. One more thrust, one spurt of blood, one fatality, and the winner had succeeded.

Anna had won.

At the very last moment she aimed her blade at it's mouth and got the deadly, gruesome blow needed to prevail. The snake had a critical wound and was going to die, but it hadn't perished yet.

"SSS SA SA SSSSS..." It's last words didn't seem angry screams like before, but instead it was more like calls for-

_-Help, IT'S CALLING FOR HELP!! I got to get the tag and get out of here!_ As fast as an injured woman could go she grabbed the paper and limped her way back to the city.

But it was already too late, the small flock of snakes was on her tail. She started running, despite the arguing pain.

_God I hate snakes!_

* * *

The alligator opened it's mouth once more.

"Pochi, stand down!" The monster's angry aura dissapeared, and Yoshitaka recognized that voice, it was-

"Queen Izumi? Pochi? OOOH the royal sister's pet, I should've recognized him before! Wait, why are you here?"

"You never told me your name last night, the curiosity was eating me up, so I got rid of my guards and came."

"You got into a treacherous jungle and saved my life, just to learn my name?"

"I guess so."

"Now who's the one acting like an idiot?"

Her majesty felt a powerful rage that made her want to hit him, but she calmed down. "Whatever, just have this." She reached inside her shirt to get something, but the perverted thief thought it was something else.

"Hey! We haven't known each other long enough to do THAT!"

The rage grew again.

"I WOULD PUNCH YOU SO HARD IF YOU WEREN'T BADLY INJURED!! Just shut up and wait." She pulled in again and got out a pair of small scissors. Then cut the tag off of Pochi's tooth and handed it to him.

Yoshi was confused, but took it. "What's this for?"

"My pet almost killed you, by the laws of this kingdom that's assault. I can either give you this and make it even, or I can pay your medical bills for a month. And I chose the first."

The bandit smirked, got up and walked away, pain still in his chest. "Oh yeah, my name is Yoshitaka Nakabayashi."

"I see."

"And I don't believe you did this because of either of your excuses! I believe you did this because of a more simple reason, I believe you did this because you feel something-"

Now the rage was unbearable. "YEAH RIGHT, IN YOUR DREAMS!!" And she throttled him into the big blue above.

* * *

Anna was still running as she noticed a figure flying through the sky.

_Hey, a shooting star! I wish I didn't have to deal with these snakes!_ She was almost back to the city, because she could see the brown walls of a building past the trees.

_Almost... there...!_ She ran past the forestry, jumped the fence and into safety.

A huge horde of snakes followed her out but stopped at the fence. There were so many different color designs in the crowd that it hurt the eyes. Blue with yellow polka dots, black lined with white, orange waves, light green to dark green, to name some.

The knight just mocked the swarm from her 'safe' spot. And the pythons got furious. They grouped up, reared back, and smashed themselves into the fence, shattering it into pieces.

"OH COME ON!! Why me god?" The angry mob slithered to her, ready to bite.

"C'mon shooting star, now would be a good time to, HHEEEELLLPP!!" Just as she said that the figure of everyone's least favorite con man hurtled to the scene. He cometed into the the mob getting every evil, slithering, cruel thing dead. Sadly, not including himself.

Yoshitaka got up holding his ticket. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OOOWWW!! DANG THAT HURT!!"

* * *

**I'm so unsatisfied with this chapter T-T. So I'm going to make up for it by adding a preview of the next chapter. I don't have a title for the chapter yet.  
**

-

Ryan and Anna were on Yoshi and Kisuke's tail and got up next to them.

"Kisuke! Grab the reigns, I'll deal with them!" Yoshitaka handed the steering tools to his fellow theif. Then he shuffled to the back of the -- and faced up against Ryan.

Ryan was confident. "Boy, you just brought a knife to a crossbow fight!"

(A/N: The real saying is 'you just brought a knife to a gunfight!' but they didn't have guns yet, so see what I did there?)

The hunter shot another arrow at the rogue but he rapidly blocked it with a swift move of his dagger.

"Even though, I'll still kick you ass!" Yoshitaka slashed with his blade to cut another arrow, and then continued to block every attempt Ryan made at shooting him. "Kisuke! Get closer to them!"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?!"

"Danger is my middle name!!"

"No, CRAZY is your middle name!" Despite that protest, he brought the horses to their opponent's side almost ramming them. Yoshitaka now had space to move with the combined -- and the real battle between them began.

* * *

**I used -- to replace a word because that word would have given away what the next match would be, and I wanted to keep you all in the dark. That way you have to guess! I'm still not satisfied with this chapter T-T!  
**


	6. Good ol' Days

**I changed it up from the preview, in this, Anna and Kisuke are fighting.  
**

* * *

The populous dwindled even more, now there was only twenty contestants left. The crowd had gathered in a different place now, a colossal, roman-type stadium.

As a joke, Mitzuki was wearing a toga when she spoke.

"I see everyone brought their weapon of choice like I asked them! Now for the details, as you can see, we are at a roman arena and yes, I am wearing a toga! What could that possibly mean? It means we're going to do something roman-like! And what will that be? CHARIOT COMPETITION!! You will be paired up in teams and given a mount and two horses. One person in the team will drive while the other one attacks the other groups. You can not just stand still and keep shooting people, you must keep moving. Your goal is to knock someone else off their chariot, or destroy the chariot itself, and keep that from happening to you as well! If this happens to you, then you're out of the tournament, once we have 5 duos out, the game ends! Those are the rules! Now let's start pairing people up so we can get this show on the road!"

The princess pulled out a scroll with everyone's name on it. "The first pair on the list is, Ryan Anarame and... Anna Kurauchi! Next is Yoshitaka Nakabayashi and... Kisuke Ishihara!"

Once Yoshitaka heard the name Kisuke Ishihara, he stopped listening. _Kisuke, nah it can't be him! Can it? It's been so long! _Unbeknown to him, Kisuke was thinking the same thing about Yoshi.

The time had flown by, and Mitzuki had finished reading the names. "Ok, find your partner, then pick a chariot!"

The crowd shuffled around and then the ronin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a muscular man in something like a karate outfit. He wore a chain around his waist and no shoes. He had a powerful yet gentle look to him.

"Kisuke!"

"Yoshi!" The built man gave the thief a friendly squeeze. "You haven't changed a bit!"

"Ack, can't... breathe!" Kisuke let him go.

"Sorry man, remember when I used to do that before?"

"Of course! It hurt back then too!" They chuckled. "So how's life been for you since the gang split up, my former partner in crime?"

"Good, I'm a karate sensei now, how about you?"

"Really good, I just pick pocket now. Nothing like that job in Spain! Remember that? It was so fun."

"Well easy for you to say! You didn't get shot in the hand when you grabbed your sack of gold!"

The twosome continued to reminisce as they walked to a chariot, chatting and laughing. Their chariot was made of strong brass, no real design on it.

"Kisuke, you want to drive or should I?"

"You should, in this competition close range weapons like daggers aren't going to be much help. Besides, you always loved driving the getaway kart after a job. And I can show you how much stronger I've gotten!"

"Works for me."

Mitzuki called out to all the chariots, "Everyone is on! The contest will begin in three, two, one, GO!!" The air was filled with neighs, yahs, and 'HOW DO YOU CONTROL THIS THING?'

First, the former cohorts attacked the pair to there side, the two had red hair and wore white pants and overalls. They looked like brothers. The guy attacking and bragging was carrying a huge broadsword. Kisuke pulled out his chain.

"How do you plan on fighting me with that little thing?" He brought his guillotine down with exponential force. Kisuke simply brought up his link and blocked it.

"I could say the same to you!" The past thief tilted his shackles, getting it to the sword's side. Then he forced the blade out of his opponent's hands. Lastly, he prepared for one last blow.

"Eep." Kisuke whipped his chain around, knocking both riders off their mount. Then he relaxed and looked forward, but when he looked forward, he wasn't relaxed anymore. Yoshi was about to run into a wall.

"Uh, Yoshitaka, you do know we're about to CRASH!!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Then, TURN AROUND!!"

"Trust me!" Kisuke expected to die and closed his eyes in anticipation.

"Hyah!!" When he didn't feel the jolting crush of death, he opened his eyes. They were riding on top of the wall!

"Jump!!" The ponies did as they were told and jumped, right on top of another chariot. It destroyed the kart and sent the enemies flying.

"YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED, ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Yes" He said simply.

"...Wow, it really is just like the good ol' days!"

Yoshitaka scoffed, "Exactly like the good ol' days!"

"Birdies at 6 o'clock!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"There's people behind us!!"

Just as he said, Ryan and Anna were on Yoshi and Kisuke's tail and got up next to them. Ryan was driving and Anna was in the back. Anna spoke first.

"Aw man, I wanted to fight Yoshitaka again. Oh well, you'll have to do!"

"Lady, you underestimate me way to much!"

He brought his chain around and lashed it at her. She defended it easily by simply hiding behind her rapier. One slash, two, three, five, ten, twenty, she blocked them all, sending powerful sparks everywhere.

Both drivers yelled, "FINISH IT ALREADY!"

The duelers heard. They moved in harmony and brought their weapons back, then thrust with all the strength they could muster.

The shackles flew.

With Kisuke open, Anna went in for the kill.

"STOP!!" The knight froze in her tracks, the voice was Mitzuki's. "The match is already over, five chariots have been defeated."

Sure enough, they looked around and counted five broken down karts around them.

Kisuke was very annoyed, "You could have told us earlier!! Before I almost got SKEWERED!!"

The princess grinned, "Yeah, I could have."

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**Kind of skipped through the scenes, but I still liked it.**

**I'm going to start giving out the name of the next chapter as a preview, just because. Next chapter: 'The not-a-date'**


	7. Yoshi's DRUNK

**So sorry about not updating for a while, it's just that I lost my train of thought for this fic.**

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The last ten contestants were supposed gather in front of a desert type area to the south of the kingdom. But Anna didn't see Yoshitaka there.

_Yes! He's late! Now my only competition is going to be disqualified! ...What the? _The knight's joy quickly transformed to disappointment as she saw the thief wobbling over to the group. Wait, wobbling?

"Yoshitaka, what are you doing so late and what's wrong with you?"

"Me and Kisuke 'hic' went to the pub and got so drunk 'hic'."

"So? You should have slept it off and gotten your hangover by now!"

"Yeah, about that, 'hic' when I woke up, my head hurt so badly 'hic' that I drank MORE beer to make it stop!"

She was flat out stupefied, by his stupidity.

Eventually she became poise again when Mitzuki's voice snapped her out of it.

"Okay everyone, in front of us is approximately one mile of desert. We are going to have a RACE!! For this event you will be put with a partner again and given an English-style boxcart with the number of your team on it. Like the last one, one person will be contending against the others and one person will drive. It doesn't matter if you fall off, as long as you get back on, your ranking will not be considered if one of your team isn't on the vehicle! The pair in last place is out of the tournament! Now let's start grouping people up!" she brought out a scroll with the contestant's names on it like last time.

Anna lost her poise again. _Oh shit! Please don't be placed with Yoshitaka...Please don't be placed with Yoshitaka...Please don't be placed with Yoshitaka..._

"Team 4 is Anna Kurauchi and..."

_Please don't be placed with Yoshitaka..._

"...Yoshitaka Nakabayashi!"

"DAMN IT!!" Everyone stared at the woman after she cursed for the whole world to hear. "Uh, I mean... The guy is drunk right now! Can't you just disqualify him?"

"Since you're on his team you would be disqualified too."

Anna quickly cursed under her breath. "Fine... I'll work with him." She continued her angry complaints as she dragged the limp body of the criminal to wagon number four.

She sat him down right next to the driver seat and mumbled, "This is going to be so hard."

The princess entered her own gold-lined wagon where Izumi was going to watch too. Their vehicle had a large rectangular hole in the side to watch through and one of Mitzuki's staff was acting as a chaufer for the evening. The blond yelled to the contestants, "On your mark, get set, GO!!"

The horses whinnied and bulleted away. Unluckily for Anna, unlike the last mission, everyone knew how to drive! Car 2 was in the lead, and car 1,3, and 4 were rolling for second. Car 5 was lagging behind.

1 and 3 caught up to 2 and their vehicles became adjacent together to eachother, turning the roofs of them into a moving battle arena. From where Anna could see, Kisuke was using his chain, Ryan was using his bow as a melee weapon and the third person wasn't in sight.

Suddenly the sound of tearing (A/N: What would English boxcart be made of? Well whatever it is use that word to replace the ...)... sprang to the knight's ears. She looked back and saw that kart 5 had caught up and was stabbing their car! She fumbled around trying to think of a way to steer while she was gone.

"Oh screw it!" The paladin wrapped Yoshitaka's hands on the reigns and started climbing to the top of their vehicle. "Don't crash us!"

"Okay tooth fairy lady! Wait a minute, you still owe me six quarter's and a backrub!" (Remember, he's still drunk.)

Anna rolled her eyes and when she got to the top she met up with some kind of samurai. He was an asian man and was fairly chubby and fairly hairy. What gave away the samurai-ness was his red armor. He spoke with a heavy accent.

"Ah, you have come knight! You may be a strong warrior, but I am stronger! And I shall be the one who wins this tournament!"

"Shut up and fight me." She brought her rapier up to his face and the man almost didn't block it.

"As you wish knight-san."

"Like I just said, shut up."

The samurai removed his katana from the lock brought it down trying to hit her feet. Anna jumped over it and when she did, he brought it upward prepared to slice her in half. She barely blocked it with her own blade and was surprised at his strength. Not only was he overpowering her but he was also holding the force of her weight and her strength.

Anna lifted her foot and smashed it into his face. That brought him down!

The paladin got back in to her position and the samurai was on his knees. But he wasn't in that much pain, he was just really mad. He came at her faster and stronger than before, with slashes and slices of great force.

"Now I'm mad!"

"I can see that!" They locked swords a second time, and the knight's rapier was forced out of her hands. He put his katana to her throat and said,

"Any last words?"

"Tell me your name, I want to know who it was that defeated me."

"Understandable, you are definitely an honorable soldier. My name is Rei Ohara." He brought his sword back and readied for the kill.

Suddenly, Anna's kart jolted sideways and rammed Rei's kart. Both of them were shaken, but only Rei fell off. Car 5 had to stop, and Anna and Yoshi were shoe-ins for the next round!

Though Anna was just as confused as anyone. So she stumbled to the front and saw that Yoshitaka fell on his side asleep! That's what surprised the horses and made them ram the other car! His drunken self saved her life! She hopped next to him and smirked.

"You know what? You ain't half bad Yoshi-kun."

Then he replied completely soberly,"I know."

"Wha-,wait a-, how-, why ar-, HUH?!"

"I was never drunk at all! I was just pretending to be this entire time so that I wouldn't have to do anything!"

Now she was ticked, and she pounded him to a pulp the entire way to the finish line.

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**Happy chapter! This is definitely my favorite! Also, I may or may not update this soon.**


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